Gluten-Free Glazed Shortbread Maple Cookies

If there ever was a cookie that I would say is my favourite, it is this Gluten-Free Glazed Shortbread Maple Cookie. The shortbread cookies are buttery, glazed with a delicious brown butter maple glaze, and for this festive time of year, I shaped them into pumpkin cookies.

Pumpkin shape cookies are great because you can serve them for Thanksgiving or Halloween. Either way, they are a mouthful of deliciousness.

Who doesn’t love fall?  TThe leaves are falling, the vibrant colours everywhere, and the start of baking season. I wanted to create something different, simple, with very few ingredients and more importantly, delicious!

Since we are just around the corner from Halloween, I thought, why not shape the cookies into pumpkins, and this is how my favourite fall cookie came about.

Gluten-Free Shortbread Maple Cookies Recipe Overview

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted this glazed shortbread maple cookie recipe to be simple and with only a few ingredients. I used only nine ingredients for this gluten-free cookie recipe, including the glaze.

Why add maple extract to shortbread cookie recipe?

If you have been following my recipes, you know I have made the Gluten-Free Apricot Maple Butter Cake and the Gluten-Free Maple Oat Nut Scones, so I have the maple extract in my pantry — why not use it? I added the extract to the maple butter glaze for more intense maple flavour, but it is optional.

This gluten-free cookie recipe is my basic shortbread cookie recipe with a couple of small changes. The maple butter glaze is something new I have created, and it is the glaze that makes these gluten-free shortbread maple cookies exceptional.

I used these pumpkin cookie cutters, they vary in size so you can choose the one that suits you the best. I found the smallest size worked well in this pumpkin cookie recipe.

The glaze is made simply by first browning the butter. The butter adds more flavour to the glaze. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth—Nothing to it.

the fun part → decorating the cookies

What I love about making these cookies is the decorating. You can have so much fun with it, and it is a great way to include children when making these cookies. The decoration doesn’t have to be perfect, as you can see in these pictures, as long as you all have fun doing it.

Yes…I had a little helper decorating these cookies. For a perfect looking cookie, glaze the entire cookie.

If you are thinking of making a gluten-free fall cookie, try this shortbread maple cookie recipe. I promise you it will be a big hit! I just made a batch, and I will have to hide the cookies because they will not last until the end of the day. My advice, double the recipe 🙂

I hope you give these gluten-free shortbread maple cookies a try and let me know your thoughts. If you have any suggestions, please add them to the comments. I always love to hear from you. Enjoy!